Chicagoans, by their nature, have always looked for faster and better ways to get around. That was especially true as the city grew to the northwest. The series of diagonal streets like Avondale, Elston and Milwaukee avenues proved to be inadequate routes from the Northwest Side and suburbs to downtown Chicago. From the 1920s on, various efforts were made to create a northwest "superhighway." But it took decades to properly align the political forces and funding needed to build the massive public works project. Finally, on Nov. 5, 1960, officials marked the completion of the Northwest Expressway, renamed in honor of President John F. Kennedy three years later. Although it is only one of the city's expressways, the Kennedy is pre-eminent in that it provides a link between O'Hare International Airport and downtown Chicago, and is widely known for its innovative reversible lanes. And it will always share a history with a certain young president who captured the city's heart.